The Australian Election Studies (AES) have been running as a series of surveys beginning in 1987 that have been timed to coincide with Australian Federal elections. The series also builds on the Australian National Political Attitudes Surveys run in 1967, 1969 and 1979. The Australian Election Study survey is funded by the Australian Research Council and has been directed by Professor Ian McAllister, Dr Juliet Pietsch (both from the Australian National University), Professor Clive Bean (Queensland University of Technology) and Professor Rachel Gibson (University of Manchester).
The AES aim to provide a long-term perspective on stability and change in the political attitudes and behaviour of the Australian electorate, and investigate the changing social bases of Australian politics as the economy and society modernise and change character. In addition to these long-term goals they examine the political issues prevalent in the election and assess their importance for the election result.
The 2016 Australian Election Study is the eleventh in a series of surveys. It replicates many questions from the previous Australian Election Studies, but also introduces new questions regarding a range of topical social issues (e.g. lowering the voting age, the NDIS and disability). Other sections cover the respondent's interest in the election campaign and politics, their past and present political affiliation, evaluation of parties and candidates, alignment with parties on various election issues, evaluation of the current economic situation, and attitudes to a range of election issues including global warming, taxation, education, unemployment, health and Medicare, refugees and asylum seekers, and population policy. Opinions on social policy issues including abortion, equal opportunities, same sex marriages, and Australia's security were also covered in the 2016 Australian Election Study. Background variables include level of education, employment status, occupation, type of employer, position at workplace, trade union membership, sex, age, own and parents' country of birth, parents' political preferences, religion, marital status, income, and where applicable, the occupation, trade union membership and political preference of the respondent's partner.
The 2016 Australian Election Study is the first in the AES series to include a dual-frame sample approach using Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) electoral roll data and an address-based sample frame. Prior to 2016, the sample frame consisted only of AEC enrolled voters. The introduction of the geo-coded national address file (G-NAF) frame allows for the inclusion of Australian residents who were eligible but not enrolled to vote prior to the election and aimed to increase the representation of young Australians. Each frame represented approximately one half of completed questionnaires (50.3% to AEC and 49.6% to G-NAF). 1,200 of the 2,818 responses (43.3%) were completed online, an increase from 15% in 2013 when the hard copy questionnaire and invitation to online were sent concurrently.

Of a total mailing of 12,497, there were 2,818 completed returns - with 1,598 mail returns and 1,220 online returns - giving a raw response rate of 28.4% for the AEC sample and 18.6% for the G-NAF sample. Adjusted response rates were calculated by removing the “Out of Scope” sample (deceased, incapable, return to sender, not an Australian citizen; AEC n=254 and G-NAF n=1,012). The adjusted response rate for the AEC sample was 29.9% and for G-NAF was 21.6%.

Data Access

Content

Access Conditions

The depositor may be informed (by the archive) of use being made of the data, in order to comment on that use and make contact with colleagues of similar interests.

Deposit Information

Content

Depositor

McAllister, Ian

Deposit Date

2016-11-29

Version

Version 1.0

Other

Content

Unit of Analysis

Individual

Mode of Data Collection

Web-based self-completion, Postal survey

Comment

The Australian Election Studies (AES) have been running as a series of surveys beginning in 1987 that have been timed to coincide with Australian Federal elections. The series also builds on the Australian National Political Attitudes Surveys run in 1967, 1969 and 1979. The Australian Election Study survey is funded by the Australian Research Council and has been directed by Professor Ian McAllister, Dr Juliet Pietsch (both from the Australian National University), Professor Clive Bean (Queensland University of Technology) and Professor Rachel Gibson (University of Manchester).
The AES aim to provide a long-term perspective on stability and change in the political attitudes and behaviour of the Australian electorate, and investigate the changing social bases of Australian politics as the economy and society modernise and change character. In addition to these long-term goals they examine the political issues prevalent in the election and assess their importance for the election result.
The 2016 Australian Election Study is the eleventh in a series of surveys. It replicates many questions from the previous Australian Election Studies, but also introduces new questions regarding a range of topical social issues (e.g. lowering the voting age, the NDIS and disability). Other sections cover the respondent's interest in the election campaign and politics, their past and present political affiliation, evaluation of parties and candidates, alignment with parties on various election issues, evaluation of the current economic situation, and attitudes to a range of election issues including global warming, taxation, education, unemployment, health and Medicare, refugees and asylum seekers, and population policy. Opinions on social policy issues including abortion, equal opportunities, same sex marriages, and Australia's security were also covered in the 2016 Australian Election Study. Background variables include level of education, employment status, occupation, type of employer, position at workplace, trade union membership, sex, age, own and parents' country of birth, parents' political preferences, religion, marital status, income, and where applicable, the occupation, trade union membership and political preference of the respondent's partner.
The 2016 Australian Election Study is the first in the AES series to include a dual-frame sample approach using Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) electoral roll data and an address-based sample frame. Prior to 2016, the sample frame consisted only of AEC enrolled voters. The introduction of the geo-coded national address file (G-NAF) frame allows for the inclusion of Australian residents who were eligible but not enrolled to vote prior to the election and aimed to increase the representation of young Australians. Each frame represented approximately one half of completed questionnaires (50.3% to AEC and 49.6% to G-NAF). 1,200 of the 2,818 responses (43.3%) were completed online, an increase from 15% in 2013 when the hard copy questionnaire and invitation to online were sent concurrently.

Three separate weights were applied to the data to account for the dual-frame sampling approach:
1.) A combined weight. The AEC sample and the G-NAF sample (excluding 107 non-enrolled persons) weighted to AEC parameters (sex, age and state, based on AEC enrolment data for the 2016 election, and party vote based on AEC final election vote tallies).
2.) An AEC weight. The AEC file weighted to AEC parameters (sex, age and state, based on AEC enrolment data for the 2016 election, and party vote based on AEC final election vote tallies), with the G-NAF weight set to zero.
3.) A G-NAF weight. The G-NAF sample weighted to population parameters (sex, age and state) with the AEC weight set to zero.

ADA ID

au.edu.anu.ada.ddi.01365

Label

Australian Election Study, 2016

Language

en

Countries

Australia

Type of Research Instrument

Structured

ADA Processing Level

Level 3

Producer

McAllister, Ian

Producer abbreviation

ANU

ADA Study Level

Level 3

Version Date

2016-12-20

Version Responsibility

Australian Data Archive

Time Method

Repeated cross-sectional study

Weighting

Three separate weights were applied to the data to account for the dual-frame sampling approach:
1.) A combined weight. The AEC sample and the G-NAF sample (excluding 107 non-enrolled persons) weighted to AEC parameters (sex, age and state, based on AEC enrolment data for the 2016 election, and party vote based on AEC final election vote tallies).
2.) An AEC weight. The AEC file weighted to AEC parameters (sex, age and state, based on AEC enrolment data for the 2016 election, and party vote based on AEC final election vote tallies), with the G-NAF weight set to zero.
3.) A G-NAF weight. The G-NAF sample weighted to population parameters (sex, age and state) with the AEC weight set to zero.

Question Text: What kind of work does (or did) your partner do? Please give their full job title, and as much detail as you can. For public servants, state official designation and occupation. For armed services personnel, state rank and occupation.
- What are (or were) the main tasks that your partner usually performs? Please give full details.

Label: As a thank you for taking part in this important study, you have the chance to win in the prize draw competition. Would you like to enter?

Missing Values: 996 997 999

Variable Name: Prize

Nesstar ID: au.edu.anu.ada.ddi.01365_V308

Invalid Cases: 0

Valid Cases: 2818

Variable Position: 308

Question Text: As a thank you for taking part in this important study, you have the chance to win in the prize draw competition. To enter, please provide your name and details for the Social Research Centre to contact you if your name is announced as the winner (the details included here will be used only for this purpose and will not be linked to survey results):

Question Text: What kind of work do you do? Please give your full job title, and as much detail as you can. For public servants, state official designation and occupation. For armed services personnel, state rank and occupation.
- What kind of business or industry is (or was) that in? What do they do or make at the place where you work (or used to work)? Kind of industry